HC Deb 21 January 1992 vol 202 cc113-4W
Mr. Cryer

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science why it was decided to abandon the undertaking to local education authorities that the tests for seven-year-old children would not be published.

Mr. Eggar

Parents and others involved in education have every right to see the results nationally and at local level: the assurance given when collecting the results was that neither individual schools' nor individual pupils' results would be identified. This assurance has been honoured by my Department.

Mr. Cryer

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science why it was decided not to moderate the tests for seven-year-old school children undertaken in 1991 to ensure consistency of testing between local education authorities.

Mr. Eggar

Consistency of testing seven-year-olds was secured through the use by all schools of standard tests against the clear criteria of the national curriculum; the guidance to all schools provided by the School Examinations and Assessment Council—SEAC—and the duty on local education authorities, under the oversight of SEAC, to monitor and ensure the consistency of their schools' assessments in relation to national standards.